The strike of a minor chord evoked sorrow, while a major chord provoked excitement. Music expresses emotions and encourages self expression. Songs during the Classical Era used melody and contrasting accompaniments, while Romantic songs brought human expressionism and individuality. Ludwig van Beethoven, a Classical composer, created the bridge between the Classical and Romantic Era music. Beethoven guided the Romantic Era’s dramatic styles and created different music with self expression that still impacts modern society. Beethoven impacted the two Eras by changing musical styles, influencing other composers, and leading musical advancements.
Beethoven’s style developed music and transformed pieces from the Classical style into the Romantic. Whereas Classical music focused on a formal structure and balance with strong melody, Romantic music used freeform structure with a lyrical melody (Riedel 39). Beethoven, while never considered a
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The Romantic Era focused on human expression and individuality. He emphasised major third chords for dramatic effect, and changed the way music flowed (Rothman). Beethoven’s music paved the way for the Romantic ideals of free expression through his music. In his review, Zagorski described Beethoven’s music as, “un unfolded truth...an introduction to new music out of the concealed spirit of the greatest [music] written in the age of tonality” (Hearing Beethoven). With the dramatic flairs in the music, listeners experienced different emotions as the piece progressed. In his ninth symphony, Beethoven writes an “emotional narrative” (Service). The piece starts off grand, then quiets down to a sadder melody, and finishes with importance. Service describes the ending as, “an enactment of a victory for humanity.” As the symphony weaves through different strong emotions in an hour, a Romantic technique, Beethoven shifts between two different melodic styles to create